Communications

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Any and all available purchase or acquisition records since September 1, 2014, and the most recently available inventory records, from the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center pharmacy to include any satellite pharmacies, listing quantities of atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), mefloquine, and doxycycline purchased or on hand, to specifically include any purchases or acquisitions made in anticipation of dispensing to personnel of the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), including personnel of the 53rd Transportation Battalion and the 597th Transportation Brigade, deploying to Africa as part of Operation United Assistance or any other U.S. military missions in response to the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 14, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act. I am writing to appeal the constructive denial of a request properly made to the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center MEDDAC on October 14, 2014 and formally unacknowledged as of this date.

The Freedom of Information Act provides an agency no more than thirty days to respond to a request . When an agency fails to respond within that statutory timeline, it has constructively denied the request. (See Oglesby v. U.S. Dep't of Army, 920 F.2d 57, 65 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (“Congress adopted the time limit provision in the FOIA in order to ‘contribute to the fuller and faster release of information, which is the basic objective of the Act.’” (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 93-876, 93d Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted (1974) U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News 6267 at 6271))).

As may be confirmed at the public website MuckRock (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/ft-eustis-ahc-malaria-drug-prophylaxis-purchases-and-inventory-13792/), a FOIA request for “[a]ny and all available purchase or acquisition records since September 1, 2014, and the most recently available inventory records, from the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center pharmacy to include any satellite pharmacies, listing quantities of atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), mefloquine, and doxycycline purchased or on hand, to specifically include any purchases or acquisitions made in anticipation of dispensing to personnel of the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), including personnel of the 53rd Transportation Battalion and the 597th Transportation Brigade, deploying to Africa as part of Operation United Assistance or any other U.S. military missions in response to the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak.”) was submitted the FOIA representative at the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center MEDDAC at the following address on October 14, 2014:

A follow-up message requesting acknowledgement was sent November 20, 2014, but despite this, no acknowledgement or replies have been forthcoming.

As your agency has not met the statutory time requirement in responding to my request, the provisions of section 6 of the OPEN Government Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-175, 121 Stat. 2524, shall apply, including the provision that "[a]n agency shall not assess search fees (or in the case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II) [of 5 USC § 552 (a)(4)(A) as described above], duplication fees) . . . if the agency fails to comply with any time limit… if no unusual or exceptional circumstances… apply to the processing of the request."

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation with this matter. I look forward to receiving a response to my original request no later than January 15, 2015.

I am writing in regard to a request that I made to your office under the Freedom of Information Act on October 14, 2014, for “[a]ny and all available purchase or acquisition records since September 1, 2014, and the most recently available inventory records, from the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center pharmacy to include any satellite pharmacies, listing quantities of atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), mefloquine, and doxycycline purchased or on hand, to specifically include any purchases or acquisitions made in anticipation of dispensing to personnel of the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), including personnel of the 53rd Transportation Battalion and the 597th Transportation Brigade, deploying to Africa as part of Operation United Assistance or any other U.S. military missions in response to the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak.”

This request was followed by a subsequent message sent November 20, 2014, requesting acknowledgement of receipt of the original request. As of the present date, neither a response nor an acknowledge of receipt have been forthcoming from your office.

The Freedom of Information Act provides an agency no more than thirty days to respond to a request. When an agency fails to respond within that statutory timeline, it has constructively denied the request. As a result of your agency’s constructive denial of my request, I have appealed to the Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command for forwarding as appropriate to the Department of the Army.

While this appeal is under consideration, I encourage your office to acknowledge and respond to my original request, as the statute requires. I thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter and will look forward to your response by February 28, 2015.

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 14, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

As may be confirmed at the public website MuckRock (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/ft-eustis-ahc-malaria-drug-prophylaxis-purchases-and-inventory-13792/), a FOIA request for “[a]ny and all available purchase or acquisition records since September 1, 2014, and the most recently available inventory records, from the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center pharmacy to include any satellite pharmacies, listing quantities of atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), mefloquine, and doxycycline purchased or on hand, to specifically include any purchases or acquisitions made in anticipation of dispensing to personnel of the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), including personnel of the 53rd Transportation Battalion and the 597th Transportation Brigade, deploying to Africa as part of Operation United Assistance or any other U.S. military missions in response to the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak.”) was submitted the FOIA representative at the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center MEDDAC at the following address on October 14, 2014:

A follow-up message requesting acknowledgement was sent to the Ft. Eustis AHC November 20, 2014, but despite this, no acknowledgement or replies have been forthcoming.

On the basis of constructive denial of this request, I submitted an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act to your office on December 16, 2014. As of the present date, this appeal has also not been acknowledged.

Please acknowledge receipt of my appeal dated December 16, 2014, and kindly provide me with an estimate of the time necessary for your office to adjudicate this matter. I would appreciate a response no later than April 4, 2015.

As may be confirmed at the public website MuckRock (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/ft-eustis-ahc-malaria-drug-prophylaxis-purchases-and-inventory-13792/), a FOIA request for “[a]ny and all available purchase or acquisition records since September 1, 2014, and the most recently available inventory records, from the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center pharmacy to include any satellite pharmacies, listing quantities of atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), mefloquine, and doxycycline purchased or on hand, to specifically include any purchases or acquisitions made in anticipation of dispensing to personnel of the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), including personnel of the 53rd Transportation Battalion and the 597th Transportation Brigade, deploying to Africa as part of Operation United Assistance or any other U.S. military missions in response to the 2014 west African Ebola outbreak.”) was submitted the FOIA representative at the Ft. Eustis McDonald Army Health Center MEDDAC at the following address on October 14, 2014:

A follow-up message requesting acknowledgement was sent to the Ft. Eustis AHC November 20, 2014, but despite this, no acknowledgement or replies have been forthcoming.

On the basis of constructive denial of this request, I submitted an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act to your office on December 16, 2014 and again on March 6, 2015. As of the present date, these appeals have also not been acknowledged.

Please acknowledge receipt of my appeals and kindly provide me with an estimate of the time necessary for your office to adjudicate this matter.